First published: 30th September 2008
Speaking in an interview with ZDNET, Chief Inspector Paul Jackson of the Technology Crime Division, Hong Kong Police Force, revealed the force's use of a beta version of COFEE. COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) is a live forensics tool developed by Microsoft that automates the use of 150 evidence-gathering commands. Available only to law enforcement agencies, the beta version of COFEE was released earlier this year and, Jackson revealed, initial used by the Hong Kong Police in "incidence response" situations.
The developer of the tool, Anthony Fung, Microsoft's senior regional manager for Internet safety and anti-counterfeiting in the Asia-Pacific region, stressed that COFEE is meant to complement existing tools and is not a silver bullet. Jackson confirmed that investigators do not depend solely on COFEE but also use other tools for validation.
Fung reported that the beta phase has closed and Microsoft will release COFEE once the legal logistics are complete.